Googling a greener planet: searches for eco-sites rise 25 per cent

From an online community where you can give away your unwanted possessions to a guide to less-polluting cars, these are the most popular green websites on the internet.

A report today shows that traffic on websites about the environment has increased by 25 per cent over the past two years.

Top sites are the Environment Agency for England and Wales and the Freecycle Network - a localised online noticeboard that allows useful secondhand items to be passed on rather than thrown away.

Internet analysis company Hitwell, which conducted the research, said another site becoming increasingly popular was the Earthday Network, which co-ordinates environmental events.

The top five environmental search terms - words that are tapped into a search engine to find a website - are "freecycle" followed by "environment agency", "earth day" (the annual international day of action on the environment), "live earth" (the Wembley concert on 7 July featuring Madonna, which will raise money for environmental charities) and "global warming".

Internet analyst Heather Hopkins said: "We have seen an increase in environmental websites and in search terms such as 'carbon footprint'.

"The reason behind any increase in online activity is because of offline promotion, or news stories.

"People hear about these things and look for more information.

"One of the most interesting websites that has increased visitor numbers is Earth Day, which is an environmental day with events all over the world.

"This has been very popular in the US for years but has only just started to take off here.

"Now the big challenge for the websites is to maintain momentum. They become popular because there is a buzz, but they need to keep that going."

Top 20 environment websites visited last month

1. Environment Agency for England and Wales - Government news and advice on protecting the environment. environment-agency.gov.uk

2. Freecycle Network - Localised site that matches people with unwanted goods to others who want them. freecycle.org